As part of its commitment to the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals, Covestro, the Leverkusen-based materials manufacturer, announced an ambitious sustainability target to reduce its specific CO2 emissions per tonne of product by 50 %, based on a base line of 2005 in April this year. Towards that goal, the company has also been taking significant steps in the Indian market. We recently met up with Ajay Durrani, Country President, India and Managing Director – Indian Sub-Continent, Covestro for a detailed understanding of the company’s approach towards polymers and chemistry in general.
Ajay Durrani is currently the Country President, India and Managing Director – Indian Sub-Continent for Covestro, which was formerly known as Bayer Material Science. A veteran in the chemical industry with over 21 years of experience, Durrani focuses on achieving continuous and improved business performance. He joined Covestro in October 1997 as Regional Sales Manager to oversee the sales of speciality chemicals, coatings, polyurethanes, pigments and organic chemicals in Northern India. During his 19 years tenure with the company, Durrani has held several prominent positions, including an overseas position of Regional Marketing Director – Automotive, for the Asia-Pacific region (2009). Prior to Covestro, he worked on assignments with Bush Boake Allen/ IFF New Delhi, as Area Sales Manager for the Flavour, Fragrance and Aroma Chemicals business.
ATR _ How do you view the current s tate of the Indian automotive industry? How receptive are manufacturers towards adopting new polymer technologies and solutions?
AJAY DURRANI _ About 22 % of Covestro’s global business comes from the automotive industry, indicating a high level of engagement with this sector. Over the past two or three years, when the Indian automotive industry saw some stabilisation as compared to the high growths we saw earlier, even our business was impacted. But largely the Indian automotive industry has been growing at a steady pace, and we have also continued to grow consistently.
We deal in advanced, high-performance polymers. As the per capita consumption of materials starts going up, there is always an opportunity for Covestro to participate through its polyurethane and polycarbonate products as well as with coatings and adhesives.
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